It started with a kiss
by annehuda
Summary: The story is about two siblings, Alex and Annelise who has feeling for each other. at one night, they actually kiss and that's when things get complicated.    I need your constructive comments.  thanks!


"Anne! Anne! Where are you? Anne!"

The 12-years-old Alex called out his younger sister's name, frantically running around the big oak tree searching for Annelise. They were sleeping on the big, moldy roots of the oaks, the big oaks on the edge of their grandmother's 13 acres grazing field that was said to be a home of the elves who like to kidnap little children like them. But they never took their grandmother's story seriously though. In the world of Playstation and I-pod, elves and fairies and nothing compared to bullies and strangers.

"Anne!"

Alex almost lost his voice for calling out her name so loud. He looks around, nothing but green grass and few horses lazily grazing grass at a little oasis not far from the oak. He regretted coming here, sneaking out from their grandmother's house, they were tired of the tantrum their mother threw at their father on a subject they can't understand yet, but they recognized the words ; 'money', 'house','car','credit card'. It's the word 'debt' that they couldn't figured out yet. It has been 3 months since they moved here to their grandmother's ranch in Oklahoma (saje je letak. Mokcik geografi us mmg fail la. Hehehe). They used to live in a penthouse in the tallest building in New York, but since the recession, they were forced to sell everything and moved here to Oklahoma. Then the fighting continues…. Their parents were so indulged in the fighting that they didn't even realized, Alex and Annelise is here, outside under the oaks, sleeping.

Never in his life had he felt so lonely like this. He always has Annelise, no matter what or when. Born in the same year, just eleven months apart, they went to school together, to the same class, to the same playground. Even when mom and dad are fighting, he will always have Annelise. Now she's gone…

Alex stumbled down to the ground, crying. It's hopeless. Everything's gone. His face is covered in dirt but he doesn't care. Nothing, I have nothing now…So he thought.

"Alex?". Alex, upon hearing Annelise's sweet voice, looked up, and through tearful eyes, saw Annelise in her white summer dress, her right hand holding some purple and orange flowers. Annelise ran up to him and swept away the dirt covering Alex's sculptured face. "Alex, what's wrong?" The blond boy was still speechless, but he has quit sobbing now. He pulled Annelise to him and embraces her so tight, holding on to the only treasure he has right now. "Anne, don't leave me. Please….".

Anne woke up from a dream of the 'oak incident', something that happens 5 years ago in Oklahoma. But now they're in Chicago. But not at the place they used to lived, they no longer lived in a penthouse in New York, but at a dingy 3 bedroom semi-D house at a suburban area of Glenview. Her father, Alec Harrison who used to be one of the top brokers of Wallstreet, now an owner of a little café called Midnight at Park Center whilst her mother, Karen helped as a waitress at the café. They don't earn as much as they used to, but at least they still live under a roof and they still have food on the table. And Glenview is not pretty bad either.

Anne grabs her towel and went to the bathroom she shared with his brother, Alex. Alex and Annelise, who would have thought they were sibling? Alex is drop dead gorgeous, he's still 17 but he's a towering 6 feet 1 blond, with rippling muscles, the result of training football intensively. He excelled academically, maintain his 4.00 CGPA every semester, a pure gentleman who'll open a door for a lady and let them in first. He's adored by female students in Glenbrook South High School for his chiseled face and toned body, respected by his fellow friends and teachers for his hardworking and commitment in his sports and studies. Even before coming to Glenview, Alex has no trouble at all in being popular. He stands out from the rest. Whilst Annelise, she just an average looking dark haired girl, normal grads with 2 left feet and no hands-eyes coordination at all. Compared to Alex, Annelise is like a marble, dull and unattractive, but Alex, he's a gem. A 2 carat diamond that outshine her all the time. She sighed upon realizing the fact, and as she open the unlocked bathroom door, there he stand, in front of the bathroom mirror, clad in only a skimpy towel, shaving.

"Alex…would you mind hurry up? I need to take a shower". She blushed, seeing her older brother half naked somehow make her blushed.

"What? Just go ahead take your shower. Don't wait for me to finish." She stand there at the bathroom door, eyes roving everywhere except at Alex. She is somehow not comfortable sharing bathroom with her brother nowadays.

"Owh come on Anne. It's not like I've never seen you naked before. We used to take a bath together, remember?".

"That's was before I got boobs you idiot!"

"And now you think you've got boobs? I don't see any".

She throws her towel to her laughing brother. She didn't hit the target, the towel landed right at a potted cactus at the right side of the sink, which makes Alex laugh even harder. "You need a lot of practice before you can hit a quarterback Anne". Alex wash his soap-laden face and dried it out with Annelise's pink towel, throw it back to Annelise and walk out from the bathroom, with a smirk on his face. Annelise quickly closed the door and locked it. "Silly brother", she thought to herself, "next time lock the bathroom door!" She was used of her brother mocking her around like that. But she wonders if Alex still remembers the oaks incident, or even dream about it.

As usual, they had their breakfast of cereals and milks, packed their own lunch and went to Glenbrook south high school in their old red truck, a gift from a distant relative from . All on their own, their parents are too busy managing the café 16 hours a day. Usually it would be Alex who prepared the breakfast and their lunch while Annelise made her and his bed. In the truck, on the way to the school, they passed by a big oak tree by the road. "Alex, do you remember the oak incident?", Annelise asked. "What oak incident?" Alex frowned. He doesn't remember it; Annelise is somehow disappointed with it. "Did you fell from an oak tree? You fell and then you whacked your brain somehow and got a permanent brain damage?" Alex laughed at her again. Annelise began to realize that her brother is not the one she dream about last night; he's nothing but a naughty brat who likes to make fun of her. "Never mind", she sighs and stared out at the window again. And it's all peace and quiet until they reach the school.

"Hey Anne, I have a football practice this evening. You can't drive a manual truck, so you want to watch me practice?", asked Alex, as they headed to Alex's locker. Annelise simply shake his head, "Nope, I rather stay at the library, thank you very much". Alex already expected such answer from a shy girl like Annelise.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, why? You want to introduce me to one of your teammate?"

"Never. Not in a million years".

Annelise notice the stern look Alex had on his face. But she laughed it off. They can talk about everything, from her missed period to his growing facial hair, but the subject of coupling seems to be a taboo for them, at least for Alex. Alex himself dated few cheerleaders here and there, but it always temporary. "Those girls just want to date me, so I date them", he said to her one day, "they never want to know me anyway".

Annelise went to her own locker, just as she unlocks her locker, a red envelope pop out from her locker down to the floor. She quickly grabs it from the floor and put it in her jacket pocket as Alex approached her. "What's that?", Alex definitely see it. "No, nothing", she shakes her head vigorously, mainly for trembling, not denying. She put her bag in her locker and takes everything she need for her Geometry Class, and leave Alex in questions hurriedly. But she didn't go straight to her class, she went to the toilet. Locked herself in one of the cubicle and take out the crumpled letter she desperately hide from her brother.

It's one of the letters, again. A letter from an anonymous sender. This is not the first time she received a scarlet letter. Third time this week. The red letters were hidden anywhere, in her backpack, under her table, even in one of the book he borrowed from the library. The contents are always the same ; _if your brother is not here, you'll be dead. I'll come and get you. Alex is too good for you, you filthy little hopeless weakling! _It makes her sick to her guts that all this time, someone is watching her. Someone with a bad intention to harm her when Alex is not around.

"Annelise, are you okay?" there's a knock on her cubicle's door. She wiped away her tears with her napkins, tears the letter of threat into pieces and flushed it down in the toilet. "I'm okay, I'm already finished". She opened the door, and saw May, the American born Chinese staring at her worryingly. "Sorry to bother you, but Alex asked me to tend you. He seems worried about you". Annelise force herself to smile. "Well, I'm okay. Stomach cramp. You know, time of the month".

"Owwhhhh….", May smiled back at her. "Hey, Alex is waiting for you outside. If you don't come out anytime soon I bet he'll be barging in the ladies' room". She giggled. "Geez…you guys are more like couples than siblings. Even my boyfriend doesn't do that. I'm so jealous", said May, as she exited the bathroom. Her words pondered Annelise's thought for a moment. Someone is jealous of her being so close to her only brother. Why? Why shouldn't she? He's the only brother she got.

Alex grew impatient waiting for Annelise to come out from the ladies' room. They are already 15 minutes to class, and they bound to be a penalty from the spinster Ms Hersheys. But still, he waited for her to come out. He wants to know about the letter, he wants to know why it bothered her so much, why there such a fright on her face when she saw the red envelope popping out from her locker. Why she ran away from her without telling him anything. He was so desperate to know, if it wasn't for chivalry and dignity he'll be barging in and demand answers from her forcefully.

May exit from the ladies' room. "Back off, Alex. It's her time of the month. Endure it", May barked at him before he even got a chance to open his mouth. Time of the month? But didn't just last week she….He scratch his un-itchy scalp and walk away anyway.

Slowly, Annelise push the door and Alex was not there anymore. Thank God….She sighs in relief. But still, she needed to escape. She can't face Alex in the classroom, not yet, and she's already late. The hallway is already empty except for a janitor busy mopping the floor with his headphone blaring with some 60s songs. She needed to escape, and this is the perfect time. But to where? Maybe she could go to the school's infirmary, pretend to be sick and lay at bed all day. Didn't she just tell May she's having cramp?

It's so easy to fool old Nurse Butler about her sickness. The kind middle age lady even serves her a mug of hot chocolate 'to dampen her raging PMS moods'. She felt a bit guilty of cheating, but right now she badly needs to escape. At least this is way better than loitering or skipping school completely. Somehow she ends up sleeping, so soundly. Nurse Butler must have put some sleeping drugs in her hot cocoa. And she dream about the 'oak incident', again, only this time, Alex is calling her name so softly…

"Anne, are you awake?"

Awake? Who could be stupid enough to ask a sleeping person that question? Alex, with his one hand smoothing her right shoulder. She jolted; "Alex? What are you doing here? How long has I sleep?". She glanced at her wristwatch, a gift from Alex for her birthday last year. 4.03 pm? That long? Miss Butler did put something in my cocoa after all. Her head feel dizzy for waking up so suddenly. "Hey are you okay? You've been acting weird since this morning. Do you want me to take you to see Dr Hall, Anne?" Alex sits beside her on her bed, both hands on her shoulder trying to support her from falling back again. She feels queasy, the only thing she ate before she turns into Sleeping Beauty is cereals and milks and that's about 8 hours ago. She noticed Alex is still in his grey t-shirt and blue jeans, not in his usual no 13 yellow and blue jerseys. "Alex, you didn't go to the practice?" Alex smiled, there's a hint of loveliness in his perching blue eyes as he knocked his temple with his middle finger. "I didn't just skip the practice; I skip the whole class. Instead I went here and watch you sleep". She can feel Alex holding her tighter, closer to him. "And of course, I brought my Nintendo here. You're a pretty good excuse to skip classes", he lightly pinch her nose, and they both smiled radiantly to each other. She feels better now, in the arms of her loving but sometimes naughty older brother. She never feels so protected and taken care of, that she wish, _why can't you be more than my brother, Alex?_

And it snapped her. Maybe this is what May meant, maybe this is why someone actually jealous of her relationship with Alex. Impulsively, she push him away, her smile disappeared, and once again, Alex gets confused. "We shouldn't be like this. What if someone see us?" Now he becomes more confused. "What? What if people see us like this? What will happen?" She wanted to open her mouth and tell him everything about the letter, but she can't. _You're hiding cowardly behind your big brother's figure all the time, without him you're worthless. You can't do anything without him helping, and backing you up all the time. _That's right, if she tells him, it won't do her any good. He'll stand up for her, fight for her, and that's just another testament about how small and minion she is. _You're nothing but valueless rubbish without Alex. _

"Come on Alex, let's go home" she grabbed her books by the bedside table and walk out from the infirmary without even bother to wait for Alex.

Alex was baffled. Her mood swings this month are the worst. He can't figure out what she really wants, and her acting grumpy all day since morning didn't help him to understand her better. Is it because she's having her period twice this month? He thought. Maybe. He's going to let this one go. He's so glad he's not a girl, but at the same time she feel bad for being a guy who has to cope up with an only sister during her period.

"Dude you miss the practice? That's not cool ok", Keller, his wide receiver shouted at him when he saw Alex exiting the infirmary. Keller is wearing his yellow and blue Mighty Eagle sweater, his blond wavy hair sway as he makes his way to Alex furiously. Yes he is mad. The QB skipping practice when they got an important match a couple of weeks are not cool at all in Keller' book. "Dude, I'm sorry. My sister got sick okay. I can't leave her like that. Beside didn't I ask Bryan to replace me?" Alex tried his best to apologize. He has known Keller long enough to know how inflexible Keller is in football. It's his discipline and persistency that made him one of the best wide receiver in Illinois. Sometimes he's so thankful of having Keller as his friend, a friend who can push him to get better, do better and be better. It was Keller' who pushed him hard enough to double his effort in football, till he won the title MVP of the Chicago High School Football Tournament last year. He's forever grateful of having Keller as his friends and his teammate, but it is about Annelise. "Let her get sick, man. Let her lay on the bed all day if she wants to. She can do that. That's the only thing she can do. She's not gifted to do anything, but you my friend", he poked his chest with his knuckles, "you can do a lot more than her, you're a talented, gifted football player and she might be your sister, but she's weighing you down man". Alex's face turns sour upon hearing that. But he can't deny it, at least most of it. It's the part 'weighing him down' that he completely disagrees. He pushed Keller' knuckles away from his chest. "Look, it is my sister. You might think she's worthless, but she worth more than anything to me". Keller recognized the menacing fire glinting in Alex's blue eyes. It's a warning, stop messing around with me. "I know what I'm doing Keller. And still, I'm sorry for ditching the practice. I promise I'll go to the practice tomorrow okay?", and with that Alex walk away from Keller.

"Alex might look like a hard-hearted young man, but he's so affectionate towards Annelise", suddenly out of nowhere Nurse Butler speaks to Keller. He startled a bit. Nurse Butler must have been eavesdropping on him all this time. "You know, if they didn't share the same family's name, I probably thought they are lovers. He was watching her sleep for hours. Oh such a romantic man Alex is. I wonder if both of them are blood related at all". Keller laughed mockingly at her. She always thought of her as a senile cat lady who should be retiring right now. "Didn't you check their medical records? They have the same blood type. A+. Alex was born in January; she's in December, same year. I bet their parents must be so horny back then; they can't wait a couple more months to do it. You think too much Ms Butler". Nurse Butler patted Keller' shoulder before she left to the opposite directions. Keller watched Alex's back as he walk away to the school main entrance. He is intrigued with Alex's real feeling towards Annelise. Could it be….No, he shakes his head. That's impossible. It can't be. Even if they didn't share the same family name, Alex couldn't be fallen to an invaluable girl like Annelise… _No Alex, not Annelise. Annelise won't do you any good…._


End file.
